To Felix and Beyond // Miraculous Ladybug

36 - Hawkmoth's Background

"He...he dated our mother. Our father was in design school with him, and I think they were enemies. Once our mother broke up with him, our father started dating her, and thy stayed together. That is, until she went missing..." Adrien's (technically, he was still in his Chat Noir get up) jaw dropped. "Only a few months before Hawkmoth first appeared."

No one said anything, probably because no one knew what to say. "Okay, it won't be long before he does something," Felix spoke up. "We need to split up."

"You have the floor, Felix, if you have a plan," Marinette instructed, still Ladybug.

Felix nodded, all eyes on him. "Bridgette, Nino, and I will go back to Master Fu's. We will tell him what we found and get his advice, and see if he has some weapons we can borrow to fight Hawkmoth and whoever the boss is," Felix started, thinking on his feet.

"Marinette, Alya, and I will go to our father's. I have some things we have to ask him, including why he, of all people, is Hawkmoth. I also...I need to ask him if he had anything to do with mother's disappearance. I also feel like we should inform him that we are going to take him down...he has a right to know," Adrien rambled on.

The group nodded. "Chloe," Marinette started. "Thank you so much for your help. We aren't going to ask you to fight...we know that's not what you signed up for," She continued. "But if-"

"I actually need to head back to the hotel for a little while. Something came up, but please contact me if you need any help! And before you go fight Hawkmoth, I want to know," Chloe said.

Everyone looked around, satisfied with the plan that was made. "All right, guys, let's go!" Marinette called, and everyone headed out.

Chloe did want to help. Sure...she didn't know how to fight, had never held a real weapon before, but she did want to help! She didn't want to see all her friends go after Hawkmoth knowing that there might be a chance that they won't come back in one piece. At least, not without her.

She walked into the hotel and snuck around the counter, grabbing the box the old man gave her. Chloe took it up to her room, not wanting to open it where everyone could see.

Inside the cardboard box was a black box with red engravings. It looked like a jewelry box, so of course, she had to open it. A bright yellow light filled the room. "Oh my god, what is happening!" She screamed, walking backward and only stopping when she hit a wall. Then, when the light went away, she looked at the giant bumble bee in front of her. Chloe didn't know how to respond, and just stood there with her mouth open.

"Hi! I'm Pollen, I heard were about to go kick Hawkmoth out of his high and mighty throne!" Her voice was high, but also had a hint of rage- which Chloe liked. "Oh, right, I should probably tell you what's going on," Pollen said, followed by fast nods from Chloe.

Marinette, Adrien, and Alya made their way to the Agreste mansion. All were in costume, since it would have taken too long just to walk there.

They jumped through Adrien's window and detransformed, letting the Kwami's eat and hide before they went to find Gabriel. There was a knock on the door only a few seconds later. "Adrien? I saw you and your gang outside; we have to talk."

The Kwami's flew to their respective hiding spots. "We're in here, father," Adrien called, allowing Gabriel to come inside. "What do we have to talk about?"

Gabriel shut the door and took a deep breath. "Felix called me to let me know you were coming home. I'm under the understanding that you all have gotten leads on Hawkmoth?"

"More than leads!" Alya jumped. "We found him!"

Gabriel's face went from calm and collected to absolute shock. "You...found him?"

"Yeah!" Adrien said. "And...that's actually what we came here to ask you about," He pulled up the findings on his phone. "I know you two were rivals in school, and that mother had a connection with him...but, what do you know about him that we don't?" Adrien rambled.

Gabriel grabbed the phone slowly, not sure if he should believe what he's seeing. "How did you find this name?"

Marinette hadn't said anything yet, but both her and Adrien looked to Alya for the explanation. "Well, in Ladybug's yo-yo and Chat's baton, there is a way to track them if they're both transformed. Same with my flute, but I used Ladybug's yo-yo and hacked into whatever weapon Hawkmoth has, and found his address," Alya explained, trying to make sense of it all.

Gabriel nodded. "He did, indeed, date your mother back when we were in school, before your mother and I were ever together. That was...around the time when the Moth and the Peacock were protecting from petty thieves and any danger that would come our way," Gabriel explained. The three had read online how many years ago there were other protectors for other countries, some being the Moth and the Peacock, but they had never heard much about them.

Gabriel took a deep breath. "They broke up when the heroes stopped appearing. It was rumored the Moth lost whatever made him the hero. I guess...I guess it was found," Gabriel continued, not sure how much was making sense.

"Is that why mother went missing?" Adrien asked, not holding back.

Gabriel stayed silent for a few minutes. "She said that she felt something, strange, in the air."

"Like an aura?" Tikki popped out of Marinette's purse.

Gabriel jumped back when he saw the Kwami. "You look...you look like Duusu!" Gabriel whispered.

Tikki looked around. "I haven't heard that name in thousands of years," She told him. "I thought Duusu was with the Guardian."

"No, Tikki, remember, he said Duusu hadn't been activated in years," Plagg flew out. "And that could just mean she hadn't transformed...wait, you know Duusu?"

Gabriel sighed with a nod. "Duusu was the one who felt the aura."

"Of course! How could we have not seen this before?" Plagg shouted, flying around the group. "Adrien's mom has the Peacock Miraculous! And Hawkmoth is trying to find her...because they used to be a team!"

Trixx snickered before coming out of her hiding place. "Gonna be honest, I was not expecting that. And even more, I wasn't expecting Plagg to be the one to figure it out," Trixx said. "But it does make sense. A lot of sense, actually."

"And the miraculous' together can find her," Marinette finally spoke. "Adrien...we're going to find your mother," She determined. "Let's go find the others and tell them to get ready. We need to do this sooner rather than later, who knows what Hawkmoth could do?"

Everyone nodded, agreeing with the plan. "Please be careful," Gabriel told them. "And if you all need my help creating a distraction for him, you know how well it worked last time I called him out."

Marinette thought for a minute. "We might take you up on your offer."